Mary walked up to Mrs. Beadley’s home with heavy steps. She wished Gran hadn’t insisted that they make this trip today. They’d only put Chowder to rest the night before. She’d wanted to stay home in bed. As Gran knocked on the front door, Mary couldn’t help remembering carrying Chowder the last time they’d been there, the way Mrs. Beadley had stammered at the sight of him, how he’d been happy to be there with them.

Nina opened the door for them with a relieved smile. “Thank you so much for coming,” she said as she ushered them in. Mary cast a weary look around the house. She didn’t hear Marvin, but she was surprised to find Neil sitting in the living room.

He nodded hello to them. He had a large picture frame in his hands. It had a wedding photo in it. It must be him and his late wife Gladys. She went to stand to the side. She’d felt unqualified to help the last time, this time she felt uninterested.

“Why are you here again?”

“Your wife called us. It seems you’re really upsetting her.” She kept her voice low as she answered.

“I’m only looking out for her.”

“No, you’re not. You’re being selfish and mean.”

“Now see here, girl. You don’t know anything about marriage.”

“I know it involves ‘til death do you part. What’s your excuse?”

Gran was talking to Nina and Neil during her conversation with Marvin. Neil was showing her the picture, and she was nodding her head while lightly touching it.

“Who are these women, Marvin?”

“Two mediums or something. The girl can hear us just fine.”

“She can?”

“Yes, she can,” Mary said softly. Gran sent an inquiring glance her way. Mary shrugged and dropped her eyes. She really didn’t want get involved.

“Marvin, Gladys? I need you both to listen to me,” Gran said looking about the room. “You both know what’s happened to you. It’s time to move on.”

“And go where? ”

Mary was curious about this too. She’d heard Gran talk about ushering spirits to the other side, but she’d never really understood how that was supposed to work. She got that spirits anchored to an object to stay, but how were they supposed to leave unless you destroyed the anchor?

“You should feel it in your hearts like a tug. Follow it.”

“Do you feel it, Marvin? I think I feel it.”

“Yeah, I suppose, but it doesn’t mean we should leave.”

“Your loved ones are safe and cared for. You can leave with clear consciousnesses and easy hearts. Your time here is done. You need to continue your journey. Staying will only hurt you and those you care for.”

She felt cold. She knew the temperature in the room hadn’t dropped, and no one else seemed to notice it. “Marvin, is that you?”

“What, girl?”

She looked down at her hands. They were shaking. Sweat was breaking out on her upper lip. She wiped it away and wanted to pull her hair out. Gran looked over at her again with concern. She wrapped her arms around herself and backed out of the room. Gran called to her. She shook her head and reached for the door. She couldn’t be here. Gran stepped into the foyer with a concerned look on her face. Mary shook her head to tell her not to follow. She slipped out the door and took a few deep breathes. She clenched and unclenched her hands. She had to get it together. She looked at her hands again. They looked dirty. She jerked them to her sides and paced to the front gate. Why was she even here? She didn’t care if Marvin and Gladys went to the light.

She turned and began pacing back to the house. Her eyes fell on the front door. Right now, Gran was trying to get rid of two ghosts. Last night two ghosts who she’d wanted to stay faded away. None of it was right.

She turned and paced back to the gate. They could go peacefully. No one had to hurt them, and they didn’t have to hurt anyone. It was more than others got. A lot more.

She swung around when she reached the gate and paced back toward the house. Why did ghosts hang around? Why did they insist on staying? Did it really help anyone? Losing someone twice was worst than once. They were being selfish. Mean. Hurting those they loved. Well, that was wrong. Hurting was wrong.

She didn’t turn when she reached the front door. She took the handle and strode back inside. Everyone was still in the living room. Gran was still urging them to move on. Mary entered the room and stopped short at the coffee table. Gran stopped speaking and all eyes turned to her.

“That’s it. You two get two choices. One, you cross over, or two you stay on this plane, but you don’t get to stay home. You’ll come home with us, and we’ll put you in our shed. You can bicker and haunt that for the rest of eternity. How does that sound?”

“Mary!” Gran protested.

“No, the world is for the living, right? The dead shouldn’t dictate the terms to us. You two don’t even realize how lucky you got it. You get a choice. Others in your situation don’t. So which will it be? Cross over or shed?”

“Now see here,” Neil protested.

“Oh I don’t know about this,” Nina said.

“Mary, you really shouldn’t—”

“If you think you can make ultimatums—”

“I don’t know you, but you can’t—”

Mary marched out of the room and went to the kitchen. She threw open the overhead cabinet and dug out an old coffee cup. It hummed in hand. It was Marvin’s anchor. She went back into the living room and picked up Neil’s framed wedding picture. Neil leapt up. “Now I’m giving you a choice. I don’t have to. I could just smash both of these right here and poof you’d be gone.”

“Well, it’s pretty obvious which one you’d like us to choose.” Marvin grumbled.

“No, I don’t care. I’m just not going to stand here and plead. We’re not the powerless ones.”

Mrs. Beadley stood cautiously. “Wait, Mary. You don’t have to do this. We can take care of it.”

“He won’t let you be happy with Neil. He’s going to haunt you for the rest of your days. If he stays, you won’t be allowed to live, which may be worst than being dead. It’s the same for you, Neil. You decide.”

No one had an immediate response to her strong words. Gran was clearly thinking, but her eyes weren’t giving away what she thought. Neil and Nina looked pensive. Gladys and Marvin were silent, but it was a heavy silence.

She wanted to break something or scream. Why couldn’t any of them see? Why were they dithering on about this? If they wanted to get rid of the ghosts, then get rid of the ghosts! It wasn’t difficult. You didn’t need to be a freak to do it. She still held Marvin’s coffee cup in her hand. She thought about smashing it on the floor. It would be so simple. She didn’t even need to throw it, just let it slip and down it would go and then Marvin would be gone. Her hands began to shake again.

She tried to tighten her grip on the mug, but her hand wouldn’t cooperate. It slipped before she could stop it. She tried to catch it, but she was too slow. It landed on the floor with a dull ceramic ring. It didn’t shatter, but a large chip came off of it.

The coldness she’d felt earlier swept over her again. What had she done? “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She knelt down and picked up the mug. She pressed the chip back into where it’d come off. “I can fix this. He’s still here. It’s okay. I’m sorry.” Nina and Neil stared at her. They still didn’t fully understand the significance of the mug. Gran moved from her seat and gently took it out of her hands.

“I’m sorry. It didn’t hurt you, did it, Neil?”

“No, I don’t think so. Are you all right?”

His question got a giggle out of her. She’d been thinking about smashing his anchor to smithereens, and he was asking about her well being. Gran laid her hand on her cheek. She focused her eyes on her. Gran’s eyes were full of sympathy. She didn’t understand why. She’d been rude and confrontational. She should be angry with her. “I think we should go. Mary’s not feeling well.”

“Yes, of course.” Nina got up to show them to the door. Gran carefully handed the mug over to her with a quiet explanation of what it was. Nina tucked it against her stomach in surprise while curiously looking down at it.

Mary walked to the station wagon in a bit of a daze. She wondered how much trouble she was in. You were never supposed to get so forceful with a client. You weren’t supposed to scare them. She would never be a proper medium. Sure, she could hear ghosts, but she couldn’t seem to talk to the living.

She got behind the steering wheel and stared out the windshield. She didn’t feel right to drive, but Gran still couldn’t with her ankle. A few moments later, Gran maneuvered into the station wagon. She reached to start the engine, but Gran gently placed her hand over hers to stop her.

“Mary, I’m sorry.”

“Isn’t that my line?”

Gran gave her sad little half smile and shook her head. “I thought getting out of the house and coming here might help you a little. Obviously, I was wrong.”

She shook her head. “I am so screwed up.”

Gran shook her head back at her. “No, you’re not. You went through something very difficult and are having trouble dealing with it. That’s normal. The fact is if you weren’t having trouble I would be more worried, but I see I pushed you when I should’ve just given you time.”

She twisted the leather of the steering wheel as she tried to think of something to say, but she just felt tired. “What about Marvin and Gladys?”

Gran shrugged her shoulders. “They will either go on their own, Nina and Neil will continue to have them, or we’ll find a coffee cup and a wedding photo on our doorstep.”

“I don’t think we should become the clearing house for ghosts.”

She chuckled. “Neither do I, and I don’t think Marvin and Gladys would enjoy the shed.”

Mary dipped her head at the reminder of the threat. “Sorry, that was pretty mean.”

“No, it made the ghosts realize that they can’t take their hold on this existence for granted. They may be ghosts, but they’re not invulnerable, and you were right on a lot of your points. You were a bit too blunt, but you were right. They have to decide either to hold on or let go.”

“Which they?”

“Ultimately, it will be Nina and Neil, but if Marvin and Gladys decide to let go, then they won’t have a say in the matter.”

Her mouth twisted. “It all seems so lopsided. Nobody has the ultimate power to stay, only to go. If Nina and Neil decide to let them stay, it won’t matter because Marvin and Gladys can decide they want to move on, but if Marvin and Gladys decide they want to stay, it won’t matter because Nina and Neil can decide to destroy their anchors.”

“Yes, that’s how it has to be.”

She looked back at the house. “I don’t envy them the choice.”

“Who?”

Mary’s first reaction was to say any of them, but her own words came back to her. “Nina and Neil. They’re the ones who have to live with the choice, but I hope Marvin and Gladys do the brave and loving thing by moving on.”

Gran’s statement reminded her of Chowder. “He’s in a better place, isn’t he?”

“I’m sure he is. All of them end up where they’re supposed to be.”

“So he was supposed to be with us?”

Gran reached across and combed back her hair. Both of them had watery eyes. “Yes, I believe so. Ghosts have a purpose. His was to bring joy into our lives. He did and now he’s gone on to continue his journey.”

“But he’d still be here if his body hadn’t been harmed.”

“We can’t know that. And I don’t think he would’ve wanted it any other way. He was protecting us. He’s at peace now.”

She nodded. She knew it would take a while for her to accept it. The loss was still too fresh for her. “You said ghosts have a purpose. What about Ricky or Max? What was their purpose?”

“You said Max helped destroy the Shadowman. Without him, who knows what might have happened, and Ricky, well it’s harder to say, but Julie was there to stop him. All ghosts may have a purpose, but that doesn’t mean they serve it.”

Mary smirked. “Sort of got lost on that one didn’t you?”

“Maybe a little, but I think I pulled through.”

“Yeah, you’re still all knowing. Let’s go home.”

“Agree with the second part; have to disagree on the first.”

She shook her head. “Nope, not going to convince me there.” Gran quietly harrumphed and settled back in her seat.

When they got home, the phone was ringing. She ran to answer it and saw it was Rachel’s cell phone. Calling during school, she hoped she didn’t get caught. “Hey, Rach.”

“Where have you been?”

“I had to help Gran with a job.”

“Ooh, was it an exorcism?”

She sighed and shook her head, but that didn’t do much good over the phone. “No, it was weird though.”

“Like how?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think I could do what Gran does.”

“So you weren’t at the hospital Shadowman hunting?”

She had to grin at that. If she’d asked her a couple of days ago, she would’ve had to lie. “No, it was a ghost thing, but we weren’t any danger or anything.”

“So what is our next move with the Shadowman?”

“Nada. It’s moved on.”

“Really? How do you know?”

“He’s not there anymore. Vicky told me.” She had to be careful to keep to half truths, not sure if they were worst than lying or not.

There was a beep on the phone. “Hold on, I got another call.” She looked at the display and didn’t recognize the number.

She switched the phone to the other line. “Hello, Dubont Hellick residence.”

“Mary? It’s Kyle.”

Kyle? He’d never called her before. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Hey, how are you? I noticed you weren’t here at school.”

She snorted softly. She had no clue how to answer that question even for herself. “I’m not sick. I just needed a mental health day.”

Kyle laughed softly. “Yeah, I know about those.”

She grinned but was still perplexed about why he would call. “Is everything all right with you?”

He sighed and was quiet a moment. His silence made her tense. “I was planning to ask you in person today, but then you didn’t show and that threw my plans out the window so I’m calling because I don’t think I could go another day without asking.”

But then he didn’t continue. She was really perplexed now. “Ask me what?”

“Okay, I know this might be lame, but would you go to prom with me?”

“What?”

He let out a heavy sigh. “I knew you wouldn’t be interested. Sorry, forget I asked.”

“Um, so you don’t want to take me?”

“I asked you. What do you think?”

“I think I…” Her brain was scrambled. Prom? For real?

“You don’t have to be nice. If you don’t want to go—“

“I never thought I would go. I mean I didn’t think anyone would ask me.”

“I know it’s probably not your scene. I just thought it’d be cool if we went together.”

Her brain was definitely scrambled. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“If you still wanna?”

“Yes, are you sure? I mean…”

“If you really thought I’d say no, why’d you ask?”

“Because I really want to go with you.”

“You do?”

Kyle sighed again. It was starting to make her smile. “You know I like you, right?”

“I thought maybe, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”

“Get your hopes up?”

It was her turn to be quiet a moment. “I like you too.”

“So, okay then. We can talk more at school. You’ll be here tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, I will.”

“See you then.”

“Yeah.”

She switched back to Rachel, not even sure her friend would’ve stayed on the line, but she was still there. “So when do you wanna go prom dress shopping?”

“What?”

“Well, I’ll need one for the corsage.”

“Oh my God, did Kyle ask you?”

“Just now.”

She jerked the cordless from her head at the ear splitting squeal. “Oh man, now I need to find a date. I’ve gotta go. Talk to you later?”

“Yeah.” She turned off the phone and looked around the living room. Gran was in the kitchen washing dishes. She wandered in and watched her. Her stomach was all aflutter from Kyle, but she was still sad. She realized some quiet was the best thing for her. She gave Gran a kiss on the cheek and went outside to the backyard to sit underneath the crookety tree by the fresh mound. She shied away from thinking of it as a grave. She looked up at the sky and watched the clouds. One of them looked like Chowder. She smiled as tears slid from her eyes. She wasn’t all right yet, but she would be.

“I hope you’re happy, Chowder, and if you can, keep an eye on Max to make sure he stays out of trouble. I miss you.” There was no response to her words, but a sense of calm settled over her. She kept looking up at the sky.

131 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Sorry to see the end of Chowder, rather liked him, but an interesting twist.Would have thought there was more to do with Gran's reaction to finding out the shadow was being controlled by Mr White. Will you be writing any more on Mary, or are you going to leave this now?

So it was Max who drugged Gran and Mary - clearly he was capable of manipulating objects.

I might have missed something - did we learn why Gran was behaving a little strangely, which Mary noticed? I have three theories: Zeke was mentally influencing her in some way, the shadowman was draining her and that was making her out of sorts, or she was depressed because she realized her abilities were not up to this task and she had to put her granddaughter in danger. It might be one or a combination of these things.

Hmmm, part of Gran's mood was influenced by the Shadowman, esp. right after the hospital attack.

She was also dealing with the conflicting desires of keeping Mary safe and the inability to stop her so she had to help her.

I tried to explain a bit at Mr. Whites and later in this bit of dialogue in Mary's bedroom, but it may not be very clear:

Gran nodded and looked at the carpet. “Exactly. You know what’s right and will do it, no matter what. I admire that in you, and don’t want to ever tell you no, but on the other hand, I’m your grandmother, and I know that you could get hurt and I don’t want that, but if I don’t help you, if I try to stop you, you’ll do this anyway without me and maybe get hurt worst. I don’t want you facing this monster, but I know I can’t stop you so I better help you.” She sighed and shook her head. “But I really wish you hadn’t come across this thing. I wish I could keep you safe and now this thing has followed us home and you’re not safe. I can’t keep you safe.”

I just realized I didn't answer one of Steve's questions: Yes, I would like to write another story featuring these characters, but I'm putting them to rest for a bit to focus on other original stories.

I have a question that's been bothering me for a while now-wait no...i forgot to start of with the way normal people do it...hi there xD okay now that that's out of the way, I'd like to start off by saying that i am in loveeeeeeee with these characters. Personally i think it would've been pretty amusing and sweet to have the prom scene in there but it's still beyond amazing. You had me all teared up and snotty when Chowder died (may he Rest in Doggy Heaven) oh right...the question...what was with the stuff in the box under Gran's bed? It seemed kinda suspicious and who was that person....what was her name...Cathy Moore? xDDD

Anon, the Moores are a mystery that Mary will investigate in a future story. I'm afraid that for this installment I had to delete all parts of that plot. (At least I think I've deleted all of them now.) The next Scary Mary story will feature Jake and the mysterious death of Cathy Moore.

Hi, I really like your stories but I am really disappointed with on thing from you....

WHy in the world you gave idea about what to see in next story? come-on we love surprises and you was good enough to satisfy us till date don't you?

I do look forward to more twists and turns....

To be honest this is the place I am putting in my bookmarks... and you are the only second person till date who got place in bookmarks, first is indeed John from www.securitynovels.co.uk for amazing stories

Newly Born Scary Mary Fan, I'm so sorry! I should've put spoiler tags on that comment. This story has gone through a heavy revision that axed a major part of the story, and I wanted early readers to know that that part would not be gone forever. I'll try to correct, but don't want to delete mine or others comments.

D'Awww, much sadness yet lots of awesomeness too. Sadness for Chowder and the end of the story, awesomeness for Mary and Kyle, and the possibility of a future story.

One critique though, in several instances throughout you incorrectly used the word "worst". As in "Did it really help anyone? Losing someone twice was worst than once." It should read "Losing someone twice was worse than once." But in all reality that was the only problem I saw.

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed SS. Sorry for the worst/worse confusion. I generally know the difference, but I definitely type the wrong thing sometimes and Word is not omniscient. When I do the edit, I'll keep an eye out for those mistakes.

That's a good question. The sequel will not appear any time soon. It will probably take a year. I admit I've started writing a sequel, but I'm only a thousand words in. When I begin posting it, I'll definitely add a link to the end of this chapter like I did with Scary Mary and announce it on my Twitter account. If people would like, they can send me an email requesting to be alerted that way like when Stalking Shadows went on hiatus. Readers can also keep an eye on my blog for announcements there. If anyone has another suggestion for how to be alerted when the next Scary Mary story comes out, I will try it.

FYI, my twitter account will only be used for writing announcements.

If you do send me an email requesting I alert you when the next story begins, I will hold it and not share it with anyone.

KYLE & MARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!EXCEPT YOU REALLY MADE IT OBVIOUS... BE MORE DISCREET NEXT TIME, IN OTHER WORDS, YOU REALLY SHOULD ONLY SAY THAT SHE'S THINKIG ABOUT HIM AND NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE OTHER PERSON GIVING HINTS BECAUSE IT KINDA JUST MAKES THE STORY A LIL PREDICTABLE

Glad you like the pairing. I think it will be fun. Not sure what you mean about it being obvious...I mean Kyle was sweet on her and she noticed and she likes the idea of a boyfriend, so it was obvious something was going to happen. I'm not big on the 'Will they or Won't they' thing. Sorry about that.

Anon, thank you so much. It's great to hear from the Nook users. I do plan to put Stalking Shadows out for the Nook but it will take time because I want to edit it some. The text is pretty rough in spots I think. I'm currently working on Unicorn Bait's ebook edition. Stalking Shadowss will be next.

Oooooh. Dang,I forgot to tell you but in an earlier chapter, you got Mrs. Neilson (or is it Nelson) spelled wrong twice. It's the last time Mary sees her at the hospital in this book. Hope you can find it! Great job on the book though. Sequels can never be as good, but this one was super close.

I posted a commnet in chapter 7. I know it is annoying to keep checking everything. I was tempted to email you, but too many incidents have happened to me lately when my email address was given away.I loved both stories and am still very curious if you are male or female. Regarding unicorn bait, it says 'adult' in the sidebar. Although I love your style, I am weary of reading adult literature. Does adult mean that those who do not want their children exposed to certain things should not read?

Sorry, I could not wait any longer. I nearly sent a programatic email from a bogus address to get you to look at these comments. Anyway, I went to the ErgoFiction interview and I was very surprised to find out you are female (I do not know why, though, because the plot focuses on a girl from her viewpoint so duh)

Hi Anon, Sorry for not responding sooner. I've been working on Unicorn Bait.

To answer your questions:

1. I am only about 3,000 words into the third Scary Mary story. I don't know when it will be completed, but I plan to work on it more as I edit Stalking Shadows. Some things will be changed, like they aren't going to prom. It's way too early in the school year. Mary and Kyle will go to homecoming.

2. I'm female, but you found that out already. ;-) Unicorn Bait has foul language and some risque situations. I would not recommend it to those under 14. It isn't pornographic, but some lascivious stuff happens.

You made good stories. At first I thought that Scary Mary would be uninteresting, but it got me hooked up. I liked it when you had a sequel, it was more adventurous. I wonder though to Vicky and Cy. How would they treat Mary in school? I wish Rachel will have a love interest too!

Great story.... I read both scary mary and Stalking shadows in the same day at a stretch.... You are a really talented writer.... When will another story about mary be published? I'm looking forward to reading more stories about these characters....

I'm working on the 3rd story tentatively titled "Long Dead". If curious, I'm trying to keep a progress bar updated on my website www.sahunter.net to let readers quickly see how far I am. I'm not very far right now...

Eugh! I am on pins and needles waiting for the next. I likey Kyle and Mary. I VERY MUCH DISLIKE CY NOW! I hate jerks - what he did totally reminds me of this character in another book that did something similar to the MC and it made me so upset I couldn't sleep - even though she ended up with someone better too, but BLEH. Did I already say I hate jerks? LOL. I'm going to check out Unicorn Bait tomorrow as it is midnight where I am! Love your writing!

S.A. Hunter,I found your book Scary Mary in the Kindle store for free, ended up here to read the sequel. I enjoyed both stories and look forward to reading more from you. I will read Unicorn Bait in a while, I am currently shirking my college algebra....must get back to work.

I am also excited to see you as a Goodreads author, I will keep my eye on you there as I don't have a Twitter account. Thanks and keep writing!

Thank you so much! The Goodreads thing is sort of new/only recently put to good use (one of those sign up for an account and then don't do anything with it until months later). If anyone is on Goodreads, you can find my profile here. I'd be happy to friend you!

Hi there! Just finished Stalking Shadows, and have read Scary Mary and Unicorn Bait. All three are fantastic! I hope to read more about both Mary and Naomi. I really like that Kyle and Mary are getting together. Seems with him having been possessed he might be a better listener and all around match for her. Thanks again for sharing such great stories!

Hi S.A Hunter!!! I loved both the books, Scary Mary and Stalking Shadows... Cant wait for the next book in this series :) I feel it would have been nice if Cy had come back for Mary since he was her first crush :)

Really enjoyed this story. I read "scary Mary" and " Unicorn Bait" on my Kindle today and came here to see what else Mary, Rach, and Gran were up to. I really enjoyed all three books and hope you keep writing. I would love to see more from the UB characters in the future too. Naomi and Tavik were great and I would love to see what happens if Naomi's brother has to come to Taviks world sometime. I could also see a backstory novel of Gran and Mr White somewhere down the road... Again, keep writing and I will keep reading and keep telling people about your books!

Just bought a nook and found Scary Mary and so glad I did. I finished it in two days and quickly started Stalking Shadows( which I finished in one day) . These books are wonderful. My daughter is ten and I was pleased that she could read them also. She is almost finished with Scary Mary. So pleased to see that there will be more books. Cant wait. Thanks for the great books.

Thank you all for the kind words. I am focusing on getting the ebook edition of Stalking Shadows complete. I'm so close, but editing is very slow process for me. Once that's done I'll throw myself into writing the third Scary Mary story Long Dead.

My 14 year old daugnter and I found Scary Mary free for the kindle. We both started reading it and finished in a matter of hours. Finding book two has kept us reading even longer! We can't wait for the 3rd book, of course kinda glad its not out yet....we would be up till the wee hours of the morning reading!

I LOVE hearing that parents and kids are sharing Scary Mary's stories. It gives me such a warm happy feeling. Reading the same books and discussing is a wonderful thing. Thanks for stopping by to tell me, and I'm glad you both enjoyed it!

I've read all your books. Love them! I was upset that Cy never came around but I guess I'll get over it. For the new book I hope that Mary gets her first kiss :) I also hope that Kyle will play more of a role in the book. There is a lot of awkwardness in a first love. It could make for some funny/embarrassing parts.

Oops!!! Just saw you are working on Long Dead. I really appreciate that you post your books free online. I think you are a fantastic author with the ability to bring your characters alive. You could very well be the next J.K Rowling. Good luck

Thank you so much! Being compared to Rowling is quite a compliment. I'm so glad you enjoyed Stalking Shadows. I really need to knuckle down and write Long Dead. I've spent too long editing Stalking Shadows.

Now that was a great read! I can't wait for it to be available to buy because I'm up for a copy.

I was honestly shocked when it turned out to be -- -----! (spoiler) I mean it was looking me in the face but I just didn't think it would be and I liked him so much.

The ending was honestly touching on several levels - You did an amazing job with this story and I just know that Long Dead will be just as good if not better... So um will be be seeing some of Long Dead soon?? *Fluttering eyelashes*

Long Dead isn't near done yet. Still a long way off and writing is so hard to predict, I don't know how long it will take, but I am working on it everyday. I'm so glad you enjoyed my stories. Thank you for all of your comments.

I really enjoyed your books!!! I do have a question though,when Mary woke up and found the lights were turned on in her room,did Max turn them on? If so, then it means he meant no harm to Mary and Gran because they could have sucked their life force while unconscious, right?

That is an excellent question! I hadn't thought about too much. I figured Gran may have turned them on, but that doesn't really work. I will have to change that or address it somehow in my edits. Thanks, Anon for bringing that up.

I love this series!!! I was so happy when Kyle finally manned up nd asked Mary out! BTW, who's Jake? I hope he doesn't mess up Mary nd Kyle's relationship. Maybe he should end up with Racheal ( wink, wink) well that's if of course he isn't old or wrinkly!

I'm so glad you enjoyed all of my stories. There's a lot to be said for not judging a book by its cover.

Leenz,

I wish I could put spoiler tags on my comments. Jake was a part of this story in a previous draft and got taken out. He will appear in Long Dead. I can assure you that he is not a romantic interest for Mary or Rachel. And Kyle will have a bigger presence in the next book.

Hi! I'm new to e-readers and was skeptical trying one out but I really enjoyed both Scary Mary and Stalking Shadows! I downloaded Scary Mary off of iBooks and then after loving it went and got Unicorn Bait off of kindle. I haven't read it yet because I wanted to finish what you had written about Mary first but I'm definitely excited to get started on it and can't wait for the third one in the series to be posted! Thanks!-Isabella

Right...well, first time commenter. I adore both of your Scary Mary books and as an amateur writer myself, I could only hope of developing such interesting characters. Usually best friends irritate me because they either fit stereotypes or are just there for exposition. Rachel, Gran, Mary and even Mr. Landa are probably some of the coolest characters I've read about. It's refreshing and a pleasure to read.

They're just that type of books that stick with me (the only others are by Pratchett and Cristopher Moore) and I've already read each about three or four times.

I usually don't leave comments because I never know what to say but I await eagerly for Long Dead and to put an end to the Jake haunting that's been going on in the comments. It's making me curious.

I'm so sorry for commenting a month late. Your words are very touching. I'm so happy that you liked it and you've put me in some very illustrious company. I've read both Pratchett and Moore and enjoy their work as well.

Sorry, but that's not going to happen with Jake. He is a little too young and a little too related. You'll see in Long Dead, which is evil of me to say since it is still months away. Thanks for all of the lovely comments!

I'm not sure if you're all the same person or not. Jake is someone who was once in Stalking Shadows and was edited out. Everyone will meet him in Long Dead. The character list is a good idea. I'll see what I can do. I've learned it is a good thing for a writer to keep a list of characters and important facts. Unfortunately, I didn't learn this until after writing several stories.

It is the same person.... thanks for explaing who Jake is.......I sooo sooo cant wait till long dead comes out!!!! Ur my fave author now and I'm gonna buy all of ur books.... ur the best!!! I'm gonna tell all my friends about u... they all love the kinds of books u write....

I loved, loved, loved this book. I wanted to cry when Chowder died R.I.P but I woulda still loved to hear more of Vicky since she was basically the main part of the story and the jerk that dares to call himself a human, Cy-(nawesomegrlz45

i really wanted mary t be more of a rebel so that at the prom even when kyle tryed to take her there/ dance with her/ flirt she would punch or kick him real hard. (i would hae done that) and then he randomly kisses her.

I loved reading these 2 books on my kindle fire. I couldn't put it down. I think I will read Unicorn Bait while I wait for the next installment of Scary Mary. When will it be done? O cant wait to see what happens with Mary and Kyle and to see if Viki is any nicer to Mary.

I'm really sorry. Blogger marked your comment as spam and there's some sort of weird delay between me being able to unmark it spam. Anyway, I am working on the third book, but don't know when it will be done. Vicky will be more tolerating of Mary, but they're not going to be BFF's anytime in the near future. Too much bad blood there. Hope you like Unicorn Bait!

Dear S.A. Hunter, hey! I love your books!!!! I'm so flipped on how amazing these books are, I've so far read scary mary and stalking shadows (in 3 days time :D) Can I ask exactly what happend during the last few months, because in scary Mary, Mary sprained her ankle and Cy was being nice but in the beggining he acts like a total jerk face?and...PLEASE TELL ME WHEN THE 3RD ONE WILL COME OUT!!! BTW. I'm like 11 and a total know-it-all kinda person so I just wanted to point out that during the second run in with Mrs.Neilson, you wrote Mrs.Nelson twice! :) haha! Kelly :) I LOVE YOUR BOOKS!!

Yep, the Nelson and Neilson mistake happens. I was conflicted on which one to use and unfortunatley it didn't get corrected everytime I changed my mind. It shouldn't be that way in the ebooks. I haven't corrected the website like the books. If you read it in one of the ebook versions, let me know b/c I do want to fix.

Your question is really interesting. Mary and Cy sort of made up, but Cy stayed stand-offish with her. The thing with Vicky in a coma really stressed him out and he was already sort of stressed because he knew Mary wouldn't like that he was dating Vicky. When he sees Mary, he's tense and expecting a fight so he's snappish with her. He already thinks that he might have to cut Mary off as a friend completely, which he doesn't like because he doesn't like being mean or hard on someone, but he knows Mary has a big problem with Vicky. When he sees Mary at the hospital because, he thinks she's going to do something mean or laugh at Vicky which would be really wrong and would mean that Mary is a terrible person, and Mary can't tell him that actaully she's there to help his new girlfriend. So Cy thinks the worst of her and Mary can't defend herself. Things just sort of snowball from there.

I just found scary mary while browsing on my nook and i couldnt stop reading it....i immediately had to read the sequel..i can not wait for the third installment and see where things go with kyle and mary and the next adventure :)...when will the third book be released i cant wait for it

I'm afraid I cannot give you a date at this point for the next Scary Mary book. I am in the process of editing Dragon Prey, the sequel to my fantasy novel Unicorn Bait. I have begun writing Long Dead, the third in the Scary Mary series, but don't have any clue when it will be published. I would hope late this year. Thanks!

This was such a good book. I loved reading it. I totally predicted Kyle and Mary getting together. That was so awesome. Cy is still a bit of a jerk. As for Mr. White, well he's just a mean old fart. LOL

hi,I saw your book for free on this site and i read it.It was so intruging that i read it and the stalking shadows within 3 days.They were amazing!!!:).So i wanted to know when the next series of the book will come out.plz.

The third book just came out! It isn't free to read anywhere unfortunately, but you can preview it on various sites or read the first chapter on my blog. The third book is called Broken Spirits. It's available on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords. Other places should be uploading it soon.